Governor Announces Working Group to Address Untested Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits

Defining the Problem

The State of Connecticut Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations found 879 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits sitting on shelves of law enforcement agencies across Connecticut that had never been sent to the State crime lab for testing and analysis. Almost 40% of these kits had been there for more than five years. Each kit represents a victim who came forward in the aftermath of a trauma to undergo an invasive exam in hopes that the evidence collected from their body could lead to the successful arrest and prosecution of a rapist. CONNSACS (now Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence) advocates that all kits should be tested. Victims of sexual violence deserve nothing less.

Our Report

Untested: Eliminating the Backlog of Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits in Connecticut

This report highlights the findings of the State of Connecticut Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations (Evidence Commission) survey of law enforcement departments across the state of Connecticut to determine the number of sexual assault evidence collection kits (SAKs) that have not been submitted to the Division of Scientific Services Forensic Science Laboratory (State crime lab) for analysis and DNA testing. The total number of kits reported at the time of the survey is 961. Each kit represents a victim who came forward in the aftermath of a trauma to undergo an invasive exam in hopes that the evidence collected from their body could lead to the successful arrest and prosecution of a rapist.

Read the Full Report

Ceremonial Bill Signing and Appointment of Working Group

A New Law and a New Working Group

In July 2015, CONNSACS (now Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence) hosted a ceremonial bill signing for HB 6498 An Act Concerning Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases.  Governor Malloy signed the bill into law.  The bill mandated that all kits will be delivered by law enforcement to the state crime lab within 10 days of the evidence collection and that the kit must be analyzed and tested by the lab within 60 days. By signing this new bill into law, Connecticut joined a handful of states that have passed legislation with clear time-frames for kit testing.

In addition, during the bill signing ceremony, Governor Malloy announced that he would appoint a statewide, multidisciplinary working group to determine why Connecticut has a sexual assault evidence collection kit backlog and what measures we can take to improve Connecticut’s response to victims of sexual violence and to ensure that there will not be a backlog in the future.

The Alliance’s Statement on the Bill Signing

Governor’s Press Release Announcing Working Group Members

Governor’s Sexual Assault Kit Working Group Official Web Page

State Secures Federal Grant to Test and Analyze Kits

$1.4 Million Federal Grant to Help Connecticut Test Kits

Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services

MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, September 10, 2015

CONTACT:    Deb Heinrich, Director of Public Policy and Communication

Phone: 860-463-0892

Email: dheinrich@connsacs.org

CONNSACS Celebrates $1.4M DOJ Grant Award to the State of Connecticut to Help Address Its Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Backlog

Hartford – Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS) celebrated the news today that the State of Connecticut was awarded $1.4M in federal grant money to help address its sexual assault evidence collection kit backlog.  The grant award was announced today at a press conference attended by Vice President Biden and activist and television personality Mariska Hargitay who founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in New York.

“What welcome news for survivors of sexual violence and the victim advocates that stand with them,” said Laura Cordes, Executive Director of CONNSACS. “This funding will help our state to rapidly eliminate the backlog of nearly 900 untested sexual assault evidence collection kits. Testing each kit is a vital step toward providing justice for survivors and will undoubtedly improve the state’s ability to identify and hold offenders accountable for their crimes.”

The District Attorney of New York and the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the United States Department of Justice earmarked almost $80 million of funding to address kit backlogs across the country and announced awardees in twenty states today. They expect the funding to help test over 70,000 kits.

This summer, CONNSACS released a report based on a survey of police departments across Connecticut that identified 879 sexual assault evidence collection kits that were held in storage at police departments and never turned in to the State crime lab for processing, many for more than five years.

In a press conference at CONNSACS in July, standing with advocates and representatives from state government and law enforcement, Governor Malloy pledged to test all backlogged kits and to create a statewide working group to identify why kits were backlogged and how to ensure that Connecticut does not see another backlog in the future.

The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a competitive grant program administered by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), supports the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions’ approaches to evidence found in sexual assault kits that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory for testing.  The goals of the initiative are to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to these cases whenever possible through a victim-centered approach, as well as to build jurisdictions’ capacity to prevent conditions that lead to high numbers of untested kits.

All DOJ grantees must implement the three elements of an evidence-based approach that requires jurisdictions to: perform a comprehensive inventory of all backlogged kits in their custody, create a Multidisciplinary Working Group (including law enforcement, forensic medical and laboratory personnel, prosecutors, and victim advocates) to address the issue of untested SAKs and the resulting cases, and designate a Site Coordinator to oversee the initiative’s implementation.

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Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services is the statewide coalition of Connecticut’s nine community-based rape crisis programs. Our mission is to end sexual violence and ensure high-quality, comprehensive, and culturally-competent sexual assault victim services.